I love how you’ve connected all these dots and put this current moment in historical context. I hate that this is where we are- still stuck in a place where women and femmes have to wear makeup simply to be seen and respected.
Great read as always, thank you! I save a lot of time and money by the no makeup look...though I achieve it by actually wearing no makeup. "Flaws" and all out there for the world to see. At the end of the day I am just being me and showing that to the world. Take me or leave me. Either way my wallet and my self are quite happy.
This is so thought provoking and good. You articulate so brilliantly the discomfort I have been feeling about the "clean" beauty movement and haven't had the words for.
It's so hard for me to disengage too, I'm a white cis/het lawyer and it's so ingrained to me as to how I need to present to be viewed as "professional". I'm perfectly happy to run errands and go about my non work life with a bare face but at work...not so much. It's a struggle.
Thank you! I totally relate to you re: disengaging. And I think the fact that you're fine on your off time but feel the pressures of beauty culture at work says SO much about how these expectations are institutionalized and political, and have very little to do with personal preference/choice.
You hit the nail on the head, as per usual! Also, the NYTimes article about I Feel Pretty that you linked, was very good... until it tripped at the finish line. I find it so odd that the author was so clear-eyed about punishing, impossible beauty standards and the corresponding oppression, then at the end said that "it's simply too painful to address head-on" and that she can only find reprieve from those feelings at Sephora. What?? It felt so toothless.
Absolutely spot on as usual! I have often thought how much easier it must be to wear very minimal makeup and still conform to beauty standards if you have the resources to access the very best facialists, aestheticians, doctors, skincare. The aesthetic labour is simply outsourced and paid for.
I was curious about this part: “It all smacks of diet culture rhetoric that, following decades of activism from the body acceptance movement, has fallen out of favor.” I don’t know if I’m misreading it, since I don’t think the explicit diet culture rhetoric being out of favor has led to any real changes for those of us in the most marginalized bodies — the body acceptance movement, or body positive movement, is just a watered down message co-opted from the tireless work of fat activists who have been thrown under the bus by the body positive movement time and time again.
Much as the shift to minimalist beauty is just as capitalistic and impossible to achieve as the previous beauty standard, so it goes with the body acceptance movement. My access to the world is still curtailed, the algorithms of social media still punish larger bodies and promote smaller ones, and research shows that implicit weight stigmatizing beliefs have risen dramatically in the past ten years compared to significant *decreases* in other implicit biases in the same period. Diet culture might be under more scrutiny today but I still can’t get competent healthcare and companies like Noom are still profiting off the $80+ billion industry that exists to eradicate bodies like mine, it’s just...better at gaslighting us while doing the same amount of harm.
Phew. Sorry, this is obviously a passion of mine but of course your Substack is focused on skin/beauty culture and cannot cover every nuance of every adjacent movement, and again I suspect the part I quoted was probably echoing my same sentiment: the skincare and diet industry are hand-in-hand and co-opting radical messaging by activists to sell us the same old white supremacist beauty standards that harm the most marginalized among us.
Thanks for your work! I have been recommending your Substack left and right!
Thank you! I was definitely not referencing any meaningful material improvements to society with that point lol, but rather referencing the fact that the beauty media and beauty brands specifically are very careful to avoid any "shame-y" language these days in terms of body shape, weight, size, etc. (They disguise the same sentiments with "empowering" or "positive"-sounding language, of course.) But it's considered bad business to push sales by overtly body shaming, and it's *not* yet considered bad business to push sales by overtly face-shaming or skin-shaming. That's why I only said "diet culture rhetoric" has changed — not necessarily diet culture itself.
As per usual, a fantastic read. I was thinking about this and I'm curious if you've thought about it: Do you think the fact that you're white, able-bodied, pretty, with good skin, don't work in an office surrounded by men, etc, etc, makes it easier to reject some of these beauty standards and norms? Is the ability to resist sometimes a form of privilege??
Of course my personal appearance is a privilege in many respects! (But just FYI, while I am white and able-bodied, I do not have conventionally "good" skin [it's scarred, pockmarked, very damaged from a lifetime of prescriptions & steroids, with hormonal acne] and I'm plus size. And when I had to stop wearing makeup & using skincare because dermatitis had taken over my face and my skin had started to peel off of my head in raw, red chunks, I *was* working in an office surrounded not only by men, but by celebrities! It was very difficult. So I get it.) But I've written about all this before too; in regard to myself and in regard to white women in general. Yes, we have privileges. But I don't necessarily think of "the ability to resist" as a form of that privilege but as a duty of privilege — aren't we always hearing that it's up to those with privilege to do what they can to dismantle systems of oppression?? I mean, I feel like that's very central to my work! It's not a "gotcha" moment when someone tells me I have privilege in the beauty space. It's a "DUH!" moment. Because why do you think I do what I do? I'm not a clueless white woman lol, I'm a white woman aware of my obligation to dismantle the systems that privilege me. There's a little more about that in the end of this article: https://jessicadefino.substack.com/p/khloe-kardashian-unphotoshopped-photo?s=w
At the same time, most discussion of who has the "ability to resist" really, really bothers me. Because the discussion we SHOULD be having is "Who has the ability to participate?" Participation in beauty culture demands SO MUCH money, time, effort. There are so many access issues there. And there are arguably more women globally who do *not* participate in beauty culture than women who do — women who don't use skincare, don't wear makeup, don't have the access to it or the drive for it, and go about their lives. And many of them are Brown and Black women. What are we saying about those women, about their quality of life, when we claim some of us "don't have the ability resist"? That we're not willing to live a life that's on par with their lives? And what does *that* say about the oppression of beauty culture? And what does *that* say about our choice to participate instead of resist? I don't have answers for all of these yet but I think about it a lot!
And finally... my work, and this article especially, is not about me personally!!! At all!! No where in this article does it say that I've mastered "resisting" or that I don't give into this type of ideology, too. I own products from Merit and Jones Road and Kosas. I've written about them before. I use them. Nothing in this article (or any of my other work, really) suggests the opposite. The only difference is, I'm honest with myself about *why* I engage in the beauty behaviors I engage in. And literally anyone can do that :) No privilege or special treatment required :)
Thank you for taking the time to respond so thoughtfully, it legit totally flipped the way I was approaching my original thought on its head! LOVE the reframing of it to "who has the ability to participate?" That's SO frikkin accurate. Thank you so much!!!
Also, I should say that one of the things I appreciate most about your work is that you are a true reporter and that your work is typically not about you personally. As a former reporter, I really crave more of that pure journalism. Would never accuse you of acting high and mighty in this pursuit!!!!!
When a woman protests against against beauty standards, there is no "right" way to look. If you protest while failing to meet these standards (which is most of us), the misogynists/racists/misogynoirs will say you're just sour grapes because you're fat, ugly, slutty, old, or "ghetto" (i.e., Black and probably poor). If you protest while White, thin, rich, and gorgeous, they'll say you're a hypocrite.
If you run into someone like this (and you will), point out the double-bind to anyone who can hear, and move on. Engaging them directly, IMO, is a waste of energy.
I love how you’ve connected all these dots and put this current moment in historical context. I hate that this is where we are- still stuck in a place where women and femmes have to wear makeup simply to be seen and respected.
Thank you! Your tweet yesterday captured it all so perfectly I had to put it in there :)
Great read as always, thank you! I save a lot of time and money by the no makeup look...though I achieve it by actually wearing no makeup. "Flaws" and all out there for the world to see. At the end of the day I am just being me and showing that to the world. Take me or leave me. Either way my wallet and my self are quite happy.
Lol same! (Mostly)
This is so thought provoking and good. You articulate so brilliantly the discomfort I have been feeling about the "clean" beauty movement and haven't had the words for.
It's so hard for me to disengage too, I'm a white cis/het lawyer and it's so ingrained to me as to how I need to present to be viewed as "professional". I'm perfectly happy to run errands and go about my non work life with a bare face but at work...not so much. It's a struggle.
Thank you! I totally relate to you re: disengaging. And I think the fact that you're fine on your off time but feel the pressures of beauty culture at work says SO much about how these expectations are institutionalized and political, and have very little to do with personal preference/choice.
YES
You hit the nail on the head, as per usual! Also, the NYTimes article about I Feel Pretty that you linked, was very good... until it tripped at the finish line. I find it so odd that the author was so clear-eyed about punishing, impossible beauty standards and the corresponding oppression, then at the end said that "it's simply too painful to address head-on" and that she can only find reprieve from those feelings at Sephora. What?? It felt so toothless.
YES! It truly feels like beauty is the one area where we keep making excuses (so that we can keep participating and reaping the perceived "rewards").
Absolutely spot on as usual! I have often thought how much easier it must be to wear very minimal makeup and still conform to beauty standards if you have the resources to access the very best facialists, aestheticians, doctors, skincare. The aesthetic labour is simply outsourced and paid for.
That's it exactly!
I loved this (as I do all your work)!
I was curious about this part: “It all smacks of diet culture rhetoric that, following decades of activism from the body acceptance movement, has fallen out of favor.” I don’t know if I’m misreading it, since I don’t think the explicit diet culture rhetoric being out of favor has led to any real changes for those of us in the most marginalized bodies — the body acceptance movement, or body positive movement, is just a watered down message co-opted from the tireless work of fat activists who have been thrown under the bus by the body positive movement time and time again.
Much as the shift to minimalist beauty is just as capitalistic and impossible to achieve as the previous beauty standard, so it goes with the body acceptance movement. My access to the world is still curtailed, the algorithms of social media still punish larger bodies and promote smaller ones, and research shows that implicit weight stigmatizing beliefs have risen dramatically in the past ten years compared to significant *decreases* in other implicit biases in the same period. Diet culture might be under more scrutiny today but I still can’t get competent healthcare and companies like Noom are still profiting off the $80+ billion industry that exists to eradicate bodies like mine, it’s just...better at gaslighting us while doing the same amount of harm.
Phew. Sorry, this is obviously a passion of mine but of course your Substack is focused on skin/beauty culture and cannot cover every nuance of every adjacent movement, and again I suspect the part I quoted was probably echoing my same sentiment: the skincare and diet industry are hand-in-hand and co-opting radical messaging by activists to sell us the same old white supremacist beauty standards that harm the most marginalized among us.
Thanks for your work! I have been recommending your Substack left and right!
Thank you! I was definitely not referencing any meaningful material improvements to society with that point lol, but rather referencing the fact that the beauty media and beauty brands specifically are very careful to avoid any "shame-y" language these days in terms of body shape, weight, size, etc. (They disguise the same sentiments with "empowering" or "positive"-sounding language, of course.) But it's considered bad business to push sales by overtly body shaming, and it's *not* yet considered bad business to push sales by overtly face-shaming or skin-shaming. That's why I only said "diet culture rhetoric" has changed — not necessarily diet culture itself.
As per usual, a fantastic read. I was thinking about this and I'm curious if you've thought about it: Do you think the fact that you're white, able-bodied, pretty, with good skin, don't work in an office surrounded by men, etc, etc, makes it easier to reject some of these beauty standards and norms? Is the ability to resist sometimes a form of privilege??
So many thoughts here!
Of course my personal appearance is a privilege in many respects! (But just FYI, while I am white and able-bodied, I do not have conventionally "good" skin [it's scarred, pockmarked, very damaged from a lifetime of prescriptions & steroids, with hormonal acne] and I'm plus size. And when I had to stop wearing makeup & using skincare because dermatitis had taken over my face and my skin had started to peel off of my head in raw, red chunks, I *was* working in an office surrounded not only by men, but by celebrities! It was very difficult. So I get it.) But I've written about all this before too; in regard to myself and in regard to white women in general. Yes, we have privileges. But I don't necessarily think of "the ability to resist" as a form of that privilege but as a duty of privilege — aren't we always hearing that it's up to those with privilege to do what they can to dismantle systems of oppression?? I mean, I feel like that's very central to my work! It's not a "gotcha" moment when someone tells me I have privilege in the beauty space. It's a "DUH!" moment. Because why do you think I do what I do? I'm not a clueless white woman lol, I'm a white woman aware of my obligation to dismantle the systems that privilege me. There's a little more about that in the end of this article: https://jessicadefino.substack.com/p/khloe-kardashian-unphotoshopped-photo?s=w
At the same time, most discussion of who has the "ability to resist" really, really bothers me. Because the discussion we SHOULD be having is "Who has the ability to participate?" Participation in beauty culture demands SO MUCH money, time, effort. There are so many access issues there. And there are arguably more women globally who do *not* participate in beauty culture than women who do — women who don't use skincare, don't wear makeup, don't have the access to it or the drive for it, and go about their lives. And many of them are Brown and Black women. What are we saying about those women, about their quality of life, when we claim some of us "don't have the ability resist"? That we're not willing to live a life that's on par with their lives? And what does *that* say about the oppression of beauty culture? And what does *that* say about our choice to participate instead of resist? I don't have answers for all of these yet but I think about it a lot!
And finally... my work, and this article especially, is not about me personally!!! At all!! No where in this article does it say that I've mastered "resisting" or that I don't give into this type of ideology, too. I own products from Merit and Jones Road and Kosas. I've written about them before. I use them. Nothing in this article (or any of my other work, really) suggests the opposite. The only difference is, I'm honest with myself about *why* I engage in the beauty behaviors I engage in. And literally anyone can do that :) No privilege or special treatment required :)
Great questions!!
Thank you for taking the time to respond so thoughtfully, it legit totally flipped the way I was approaching my original thought on its head! LOVE the reframing of it to "who has the ability to participate?" That's SO frikkin accurate. Thank you so much!!!
Also, I should say that one of the things I appreciate most about your work is that you are a true reporter and that your work is typically not about you personally. As a former reporter, I really crave more of that pure journalism. Would never accuse you of acting high and mighty in this pursuit!!!!!
When a woman protests against against beauty standards, there is no "right" way to look. If you protest while failing to meet these standards (which is most of us), the misogynists/racists/misogynoirs will say you're just sour grapes because you're fat, ugly, slutty, old, or "ghetto" (i.e., Black and probably poor). If you protest while White, thin, rich, and gorgeous, they'll say you're a hypocrite.
If you run into someone like this (and you will), point out the double-bind to anyone who can hear, and move on. Engaging them directly, IMO, is a waste of energy.
Oh and I do not mean my question in a shady way at all!!
Brilliant. xo
Thank you ❤️❤️
Achieving "Natural beauty" through buying make-up is an invention as old as cinema. Just... nothing has changed in almost a century.
http://www.cosmeticsandskin.com/booklets/max-new-art-1931.php
For sure! I've written about that a bit before. But I wouldn't say "nothing has changed," everything's gotten so much worse